


See You Later

by dwaekki



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe, Crushes, Developing Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-13
Updated: 2019-02-13
Packaged: 2019-10-27 10:17:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17764892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dwaekki/pseuds/dwaekki
Summary: It wasn't Hyunjin's choice to go backpacking in Japan all by himself, but luckily, the receptionist at the hostel he checks in to for the night is there to help.





	See You Later

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Some of the descriptions of places in Japan included here may be inaccurate. Most of it's based on personal experience and a bit of research only.
> 
> Thank you to [bitsori](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bitsori/pseuds/bitsori) for checking and for the encouragement!! Hehehe

It was the end of June, with summer approaching its peak, but the city of Takayama, nestled in the heart of the Japanese alps, greeted Hyunjin with cool, crisp breeze as soon as he stepped out of the train. It was a welcome change from the heat he had experienced in Nagoya, and brought him a bit of relief from the anxiety he’d been feeling since he arrived in Japan. It was his first time traveling alone, and to a foreign country at that, and he worried greatly about how he’ll manage things on his own. There was a small sense of accomplishment to be had by just being able to make the trip from Nagoya to Takayama in one piece, but the bustle within the train station and the signs in Japanese he couldn’t understand, were more than enough to make that feeling short-lived.

Following precise and detailed instructions his best friend Seungmin wrote for him, he took a five-minute walk from the train station to the hostel, and found himself in front of a narrow three-storey building at the corner of a quiet, empty street, and the city’s allegedly _main_ avenue (which, to Hyunjin, only looked like a little less quiet and a little less empty). When he opened the door, though, all he found was an empty, dimly-lit room, with nothing but a small umbrella rack and a narrow staircase. He was about to whip his phone out to text Seungmin that he seemed to be lost, when a couple carrying a large suitcase between the two of them appeared on top of the staircase. It was only then that he figured out that the front desk _could_ be upstairs. 

Hyunjin could only sigh and wished for the nth time on this trip that Seungmin didn’t have to cancel on him at the last minute. His best friend had applied for a scholarship program to Australia back in autumn, but ended up only on the waitlist. It was then that Seungmin brought up going on a backpacking trip in the summer. Hyunjin never heard Seungmin talk about how he felt about being waitlisted, but he guessed his friend assumed he had failed, and planning a trip was his way of coping. That was why even if Hyunjin wasn’t entirely sold on the idea or financially ready for an overseas trip of that scale, he agreed without blinking twice.

A few days before they were to fly out, though, Seungmin received a call from the organization facilitating the scholarship program, and informed him that a few slots were still open. They told him to make time for an interview within the following week if he was still interested in the scholarship. Hyunjin just wanted to cancel the trip entirely when Seungmin told him of the news. After all, the point of the trip was for Seungmin to get over being waitlisted. Unfortunately, though, they had already paid for most of their bookings and there was no way for them to get refunds. Seungmin thus insisted that Hyunjin just went ahead, while Seungmin will follow him once the interview’s done. Besides, Seungmin had told Hyunjin, traveling alone for a few days could be a good experience on its own.

And so there was Hyunjin, on the second of the ten-day backpacking trip across central Japan that Seungmin planned, sorely missing his best friend. Between the two of them, Seungmin was the more logical and level-headed one, while Hyunjin panicked and worried about the slightest deviation from how he expected things would turn out on this trip. If Seungmin had been here, he would _of course_ figure out that the front desk would be on the second floor. Or he would tell Hyunjin not to beat himself up over not being able to figure that out himself. 

Seungmin would be in Nagoya tomorrow, he reminded himself. Hyunjin only needed to be on his own until then, and that wasn’t exactly a bad thing. This was his first time traveling overseas alone, and although that hadn’t been initially the plan, he thought it would be great if he could prove to himself that he could do it.

Hyunjin waited for the couple and their humongous suitcase to move past past him, before he tugged at the straps of his backpack and climbed up the stairs. The hostel’s signage and low shelves filled with uniform-looking slippers and an array of shoes greeted him as soon as he reached the top. After a change of footwear, he slowly opened the door, with a bell sounding off to announce his arrival.

The space that functioned as the hostel’s lobby probably wasn’t much bigger than his bedroom at home. As an interior design major, though, he couldn’t help but admire the smart utilization of space and  thought he should note it down later on. Beside the door was a small cork board with various flyers whose content he guessed should be useful for guests such as himself. A couple of steps away was a small elevator, and right across it was a small bar-height table that served as the hostel’s front desk. On top of it were more flyers, and a stand holding up a printout of the hostel’s house rules in Japanese, English and Chinese, a laptop covered in stickers and a small tray. 

What Hyunjin didn’t expect, though, was the _small_ guy standing behind it. He wasn’t just short, he looked _tiny_ , with his small frame seemingly being engulfed by an oversized, black hoodie. 

“Hello, welcome to J’s House Takayama. Checking in?” The front desk staff member that greeted him in English in a low, nasal voice and a familiar accent. He had a long face, droopy eyes, and a big nose, which when tied together made for an intimidating look, but on his lips was a warm, assured smile that allowed Hyunjin to take less time in choosing from the five different ways of greeting back that popped up in his head.

“Hello, yes _,_ ” he answered back in English and nodded, trying his best not to sound so nervous about his own pronunciation. 

The receptionist’s smile widened and climbed up to his eyes. “Welcome to Takayama,” he greeted again. “Last night’s guests haven't checked out yet so we can't give you access to your room until 2pm. We can check and validate your reservation now, though, if you like.”

“Uh, yes, that should be okay, I guess,” Hyunjin answered, unsure what was actually okay. 

“Cool. Can you let me see your passport then, please?”

Hyunjin fumbled through his neck wallet to find his passport, and handed it to the receptionist along with a print out of the booking confirmation sheet for good measure. The receptionist held out both hands to receive the items, but stopped short upon seeing Hyunjin’s uncovered passport. 

“Is… Is anything wrong?” Hyunjin felt his panic from earlier forming again in his chest. The receptionist had a surprised look on his face. There was something about his passport that startled the other, and Hyunjin started to worry that his booking had been canceled. He assured himself that Seungmin arranged for these bookings, and nothing Seungmin arranged ever got cancelled, but that did little to quell his fears.

The surprised look on the receptionist’s face suddenly turned into a wide grin. Before Hyunjin could come up with an explanation for that, though, the receptionist spoke in  what seemed to Hyunjin, very clear and fluent Korean. “Where in Korea are you from?” He then opened up Hyunjin’s passport and turned to the laptop screen and started typing.

Hyunjin blinked wildly at the other for an entire second before answering in Korean as well, feeling relieved to be speaking in his mother tongue for the first time in twenty-four hours. “I’m from Seoul… Wait, you’re Korean…?” 

The receptionist nodded, made a few taps on the laptop’s keyboard, then turned to Hyunjin with the same grin from earlier. “I’m from Yongin, actually. You ever been to Yongin?"

Hyunjin’s bewilderment vanished, and he instead, found himself laughing softly, until he realized that his laughter could be taken the wrong way. He wasn’t even sure what exactly was funny: how nervous he had been for nothing just seconds ago, how seemingly out of place the receptionist’s question was, or how nonchalantly he had posed it. He managed to nod his head in response, however. “Once, to Everland.”

“There’s more to Yongin than Everland.” The receptionist clicked his tongue and gave Hyunjin a disapproving look, which would have made Hyunjin nervous had the receptionist not followed it up with a soft snort. “Anyway, is it correct that you booked a double room with a private bathroom for one night?” 

Hyunjin nodded slowly to confirm. 

The receptionist’s lips curled up to form a small smile. “Okay, your booking's all good. If you want, you can wait here until 2PM, or you can leave your luggage with us and come back anytime before 10PM for your room keys.” He then extended his arm to gesture towards the elevator. “The way up’s right over there. It’s an old elevator, so only two people can use it a time, or one person and one suitcase. Please don’t lean against the door, too.” He then leant over the desk and turned sideways, motioning towards a doorway with a curtain hanging over it, on Hyunjin’s right. “Over there is the pantry and the lounge area. You’re free to use any of the equipment in the kitchen -- the knives are strictly for use with inanimate objects only, though -- and we’ve got unlimited coffee and tea. We also have a rooftop deck on the top floor for some fresh air.” 

Hyunjin let out a hearty laugh at the joke the receptionist wedged into his verbal tour of the hostel’s facilities. In response, the receptionist smiled proudly, or at least, that was how Hyunjin saw the smile he caught a glimpse of on the receptionist’s face before the bell at the entrance sounded off. A group of three travelers lugging suitcases behind them entered and lined up behind Hyunjin. 

“Ah, okay, I guess I'll leave my luggage and come back later then?” Hyunjin figured he could spend the next two hours  looking around for something to eat. 

The receptionist reached for something under the desk then handed Hyunjin back his passport, along with a numbered tag. “Cool. Just have your passport and this tag handy and when you come back. Then you can leave your luggage there--” He pushed himself up and reached over the desk to point to the floor. “-- And we’ll take care of it.” 

Hyunjin took the items and stuffed them into his neck wallet, then laid his backpack down at the foot of the desk, wondering if that’s all he really has to do. He turned to the receptionist and gave a small grin. “Thanks.”

The receptionist seemed to beam at this. “Anyway, is there anything else I can help you with?”

Hyunjin had a bunch of other questions in his mind, but aside from one about where would be a good place to eat, most of them turned out to be about the receptionist. Hyunjin was curious about him, what his name is, how old is he, how and why he’s working the front desk of a backpacker hostel in the Japanese countryside, and if Hyunjin would see him again before he would need to leave. 

The last one felt odd, and Hyunjin wasn’t sure why that felt important. He guessed it was because this was his first time traveling overseas on his own, and finding someone he can at least speak in his mother tongue with was a pleasant and comforting surprise. That explanation didn’t seem enough, though. There was something else, something about the way the receptionist smoothly slid something funny into what he said, or the assured smile he had on him when Hyunjin first saw him, that made Hyunjin hope he could see him again, and maybe know more about him.

Despite what he thought, Hyunjin put on a wide grin and dipped his head in what he hoped would come across as a quick bow of gratitude. “Nope, everything’s good. Thank you! I’ll come back here later if there’s anything.”

Hyunjin’s response seemed to startle the receptionist, but he seemed quick enough to recover from his surprise. Besides, there were three guests waiting to check into the hostel behind Hyunjin and they weren’t going to grow any more patient. “All right, then. I hope you have a great time here in Takayama.” 

Hyunjin was about to step aside, but the receptionist’s parting greeting put more weight behind Hyunjin’s worry about not seeing him again. “Ah, actually, I have a few questions!” he suddenly blurted out, before realizing how frantic he could have sounded. “But I would just like to eat something first...”

The receptionist’s assured smile from earlier returned. “Okay, sure, you know where you wanna eat already and how to get there?” 

The itinerary Seungmin prepared also outlined which establishments to go to for which meal. Seungmin also shared a map with those establishments marked, so all Hyunjin would have to do was to follow that map. Surely, he could manage that on his own; asking directions would reveal how clueless he was, which he didn’t want. And besides, there was a group waiting to be accommodated behind him. They weren’t going to grow any more patient, and he imagined he could get the receptionist into trouble if he took too much time.

“Yeah, thanks. It’s all good,” Hyunjin replied with a grin, despite feeling like it was the complete opposite.

The receptionist’s face fell briefly, or so Hyunjin thought. It happened so fast, he guessed he was imagining things, especially because the receptionist had the most pleasant smile afterwards.

“Cool, enjoy your meal, then,” was all he said. He then opened the gate of the reception desk and pulled Hyunjin’s backpack in. “See you later.”

“Ah, yeah… Thanks again.” Hyunjin dipped his head in a grateful bow and moved aside to let the group waiting behind him take their turn. After throwing one last glance at the receptionist, who had promptly seemed to busy himself with entertaining the next set of guests, he exited the hostel lobby, telling himself that he would look like an idiot if he stood there for any moment longer. 

_See you later._

The receptionist’s parting greeting rang in his head, even as he stepped back out into the streets. He wondered how likely that parting greeting could come true. The front desk was probably manned by different people at different times, and Hyunjin was going to spend most of his time in Takayama outside. His heart sank at the thought that he probably won’t encounter the same receptionist again, but Hyunjin quickly brushed the feeling aside and told himself to focus on the city he was visiting. That was what he was there for, after all.

\---

Truthfully, Hyunjin didn’t help Seungmin much in planning out their trip. His best friend had a talent in planning and sorting out details, and immensely enjoyed doing those things as well. Hyunjin knew better than to intrude on activities that brought his best friend joy. The only involvement he’d had was when Seungmin asked him a handful of times while he was researching to pick between two options, (“Ninja village or sacred deer?” “Japanese-style or Western-style room?”) and then the next thing he knew, they had an entire spreadsheet with all their activities and meals planned to the hour, along with a list of projected expenses and alternative activities. When he told Seungmin he would need to read up about the things he listed, his friend told him he didn’t have to, and he already had everything taken care of.

His only other involvement aside from being asked to pick between two things was when Seungmin messaged him one night with mouth-watering pictures of marbled beef that Hyunjin didn’t even know existed previously. The pictures were followed by a message asking Hyunjin if he was willing to save up to be able to eat something like that, then a screenshot of the menu. It was one of the very few moments in his life that Hyunjin didn’t even think twice, and immediately replied with a ‘yes’ and a string of heart emojis. 

What he didn’t know was that the pictures Seungmin sent him came from the website of a famous grill restaurant in Takayama, and the said restaurant would be the venue of their first meal in the city. It wasn’t until Hyunjin got there after a ten-minute walk from the hostel (and getting distracted by a souvenir shop on the way) when he realized that that was the case. His heart jumped in excitement upon seeing the familiar picture on the restaurant’s signage, then sank five seconds later when he remembered he was alone. He walked up and checked the menu only to realize he couldn’t read a thing except for the prices -- prices he couldn’t afford by himself. 

With a loud sigh, Hyunjin slowly stepped away from the restaurant’s entrance and told himself it’s no big deal. He’d just have to look for another place to eat at, and then perhaps, he and Seungmin could eat at a similar restaurant later on in the trip. Still, he couldn’t help but feel disappointed. It was one of the things he had been looking forward to the most.

“Going in there for lunch?” A nasal voice suddenly spoke from behind Hyunjin in Korean. Hyunjin felt his heart jump again, knowing right away who it was.

“Oh, hey!” Hyunjin turned around and grinned, trying to hide any sign of the disappointment he’d just had. Just a few steps behind him was the Korean receptionist, on a halted bike. Hyunjin thought he looked even tinier than he did behind the front desk, almost childlike even. Inside the basket mounted in front of his bike was a black backpack. The receptionist pedaled closer to Hyunjin as soon as he turned around.

Hyunjin shook his head and chuckled. “Nah, not anymore. I don’t think it’s a place you can eat at alone.”

“Fair enough, it’s hella expensive,” the receptionist replied,  throwing a quick glance at the restaurant’s signage. “This place is really good, though.”

“You’ve eaten here?” Hyunjin couldn’t help but still feel interested.

The receptionist nodded. “Yeah, several times. It’s one of the best places to try the beef here, and this area is pretty famous for the beef. Rivals Kobe beef, they said.”

Hyunjin blinked and felt his heart sink all over again. That didn’t really help him feel better about having to miss out on this restaurant. “I’ve heard of that, too…”

His disappointment must have shown on his face or on his tone somehow, because the receptionist pedaled closer. “You wanted to try it?”

“Yeah… I’ve been looking forward to it for a while now.” Now that he’d said it out loud, Hyunjin didn’t try too hard to hide his disappointment and allowed his lips to briefly form a small pout before letting out a small laugh. “I was supposed to be with a friend, and we planned to eat here, but turns out he couldn't go.”

“Oh? Let’s go, then.”

“Wait, what…?” Hyunjin wasn't sure about what the receptionist meant. Surely, he didn't mean going to the barbecue restaurant. Even with two people splitting the bill, the prices were still steep. It wasn’t a restaurant one would go to for an impromptu visit.  “Go where?”

The receptionist moved to park his bike on one of the few slots beside the restaurant’s entrance. “Here,” he answered while he secured his bike. “To the restaurant.”

Hyunjin rushed over to where the receptionist parked his bike, intent on stopping him. He felt like he was obliging the receptionist to shell out a considerable amount of money on his behalf.  “Wait!” 

The receptionist looked up at Hyunjin, seeming confused. “You don’t want to eat here…?”

Hyunjin shook his head, then blinked, then nodded, then shook his head again. “I mean, I want to but… I’m just worried… It’s expensive, and I’m feeling guilty I could be obliging you to eat here with me and split the bill, when it didn’t seem like you were planning to eat here.” He found it difficult to articulate his concerns without suddenly worrying that he could be offending the receptionist by assuming he couldn’t easily afford eating there.

“Ah.” The receptionist chuckled and took his turn to shake his head, which made Hyunjin relieved he didn’t seem offended at least. “It’s fine. I just got off-duty and I haven’t eaten here in ages, really. Besides, I’ll be eating as well, so no need to feel guilty that I’m spending money against my will or anything. So, let’s go…?”

What the receptionist said made sense to Hyunjin, but the offer still seemed too good to be true. “I… Is it really okay…?” 

The receptionist scoffed softly then laughed. “Of course, it is. What would not be okay about it? You’re not going to murder me afterwards, are you?”

Hyunjin waved both hands in front of him, laughing as he shook his head to deny any plan of ending the receptionist’s life. Suddenly, his worries from earlier seemed far away. If the receptionist could joke like this, then it was likely that everything was indeed fine. Laughing some more, he decided to try to play along. “If I were planning to, I wouldn’t admit it right here, though?”

“Good point. I’ll take comfort in knowing my last meal is premium grilled beef, then. Thank _you_ for that.” The receptionist gave Hyunjin a playful, crooked grin, before leading the way inside. Hyunjin followed closely behind, laughing heartily, with a fuzzy feeling in his stomach. He winced inwardly and told himself he was probably just hungry.

They were greeted by a member of the restaurant’s staff standing behind a podium a few steps from the door as soon as they entered. The receptionist walked up to them and conversed briefly in Japanese. Hyunjin didn’t understand a thing, but he saw the receptionist holding up two fingers. Afterwards, he motioned for Hyunjin to follow him to a row of seats on the opposite side of the restaurant’s lobby. Hyunjin sat right beside him.

Hyunjin tried to come up with something to say. He had a whole host of things about the receptionist he was curious about, but no way to phrase his questions that he wouldn’t worry about seeming too intrusive. He could only look at his shoes, until the receptionist broke the silence between them. 

“So, Hwang Hyunjin-nim, how long are you going to be in Japan for?” the receptionist asked in a seemingly interested tone.

Hyunjin frowned in response, and turned to the receptionist, suddenly feeling nervous. “How did you know my name?”

“I had to look at your passport earlier, right?” the receptionist responded, chuckling, and strangely looking pleased. He kept his gaze turned ahead of him.

Hyunjin felt his cheeks warm up in embarrassment. “Right… Well, ten days, I’m on my second day.” He answered hurriedly to try to put his moment of idiocy behind as quickly as possible. “Also, just call me Hyunjin. Please.” He was a guest in the hostel and it made sense for the receptionist to address him formally, but they were outside the hostel anyway, and he still felt like he did owe the receptionist a favor.

“Oh?” The receptionist’s surprised tone told Hyunjin that he didn’t seem to be thinking of lingering over Hyunjin’s moment either, which was a relief. “You’ll be here for a while. Where else are you going? All by yourself, too?”

“No, no. My friend who was supposed to come here with me will be joining me in Nagoya tomorrow. On the day after we’re heading off to Kyoto, then Osaka.” Hyunjin answered, slowing down as he finished. Suddenly it occurred to him that he could sound like he was boasting. Going around Japan like he and Seungmin were going to wasn’t cheap, after all. Hyunjin had to save his allowance from his parents  for months. He watched for how the receptionist would react.

Much to his relief, the look on the receptionist remained the same, or at least, he didn’t look impressed or annoyed. “You guys going to Nara? You shouldn’t miss it if you’re gonna be in Kyoto anyway,” was all he said. “Nowhere else will you be harassed by deer and actually enjoy it.”

“We are!” Hyunjin laughed at the receptionist’s choice of words and remembered how Seungmin had labored over their itinerary to make sure there was time for the said Japanese city, famous for its collection of ancient temples and sacred deer roaming freely around them. “Wait, do they really harass you…?”

The receptionist nodded. “Yeah, if you’ve got some cash hanging about, they’ll eat it, too, so be careful,” he told Hyunjin in an overly serious tone that made Hyunjin unsure if he was pulling Hyunjin’s leg. 

“Really…?”

The receptionist briefly turned to Hyunjin to give him a pointed look. “The last time, one of the deer literally dug its head into my mom’s bag and fished out some loose bills she had in there. She lost around ¥5,000, I think?”

“You’re kidding, right?” The story seemed too funny to be true, but Hyunjin also didn’t want to take chances of losing ¥5,000 to a hungry deer.

The receptionist chuckled softly and gave Hyunjin another crooked grin. “You tell me how you find the deer when you get there.”

Hyunjin blinked then laughed, wondering what that response meant, or how serious the receptionist was about it, but he decided to go along with it. “Okay…? I’ll write that down: When you get to Nara, send a message to-- Sorry, what’s your name…?”  Hyunjin realized suddenly that he could have been rude for not asking for the receptionist’s name sooner. 

“Changbin,” the receptionist, now Changbin, interrupted Hyunjin and chuckled. 

“Changbin-hyung…?” Hyunjin asked hesitantly, guessing as quickly as he could that he was the younger one between the two of them.

Changbin nodded. “How were you able to tell?”

Hyunjin laughed sheepishly in response. “I only guessed. Wait, how do you know I’m correct-- Oh, right, you saw my passport.”

Changbin laughed softly. “We’re only a year apart, actually, if I remember the details on your passport right. I guess you still go to university?”

“Yeah, I’m on my junior year. Ah, so you still go to university, too?” Hyunjin straightened up in his seat. He had been curious about these things from the moment he met Changbin earlier.

“Yep, I go to university in Nagoya, but I work here during long breaks.”

Hyunjin was immediately in awe. He’d always wanted to study abroad himself, but never gathered up the courage to actually apply for a program. His academic performance had never gone above average, no matter how much he studied, so he didn’t think he’d qualify for any program abroad. “Wow, that’s cool! What do you study here?”

Changbin grimaced and laughed. “Mathematics. Nothing too exciting.”

Again, Hyunjin couldn’t help but admire Changbin even more. Math was one of his greatest weaknesses, so for him, anyone majoring in a body of knowledge that involved a lot of numbers was instantly worthy of admiration. “Woah. And in Japanese?”

“It’s actually easier, you talk formulae and numbers,” Changbin explained. “The language barrier was only really trouble at the start.”

The explanation didn’t make sense to Hyunjin, and it only cemented in his mind how smart and skilled Changbin must be to be studying math in a foreign language. Hyunjin opened his mouth to ask Changbin to explain further about how it would be easier, but he was interrupted by the restaurant staff member from earlier calling out Changbin’s name. Changbin stood up, and motioned for Hyunjin to follow him back to the podium. Another staff member met them there and led them to a table for two in a far corner of the dining area, by a window that gave them a direct view of the street outside. 

They had just about settled into their seats when a female waitress came up to their table, calling out “Bin-kun!” in a loud, husky voice. Changbin conversed with her in Japanese, which Hyunjin understood nothing of, but he guessed Changbin was friends with her with the way they were laughing together. Soon enough, Changbin gestured towards Hyunjin and spoke his name. When Changbin paused, Hyunjin dipped his head in a small bow and then grinned afterwards. “This is Noe,” Changbin introduced, finally speaking in Korean again with a small grin. “A classmate of mine. Her uncle owns the place.” 

Noe dipped her head in a bow and grinned widely at Hyunjin. She then turned to Changbin and asked him something in Japanese. He replied with something short and curt, and another one of his crooked grins that this time made Hyunjin’s heart sink for some reason. Noe playfully hit him on the arm with a copy of the menu on the arm in response. Cangbin only laughed, then after a few more teasing exchanges, Noe turned around to leave them. 

“She’s gonna give us ten-percent discount,” Changbin turned to Hyunjin immediately after the exchange. “I took care of her cat when she went out of town last winter break and got sick, so she owes me.”

“Wow. It must be my lucky day,” was all Hyunjin could say about the turn of events. He had pretty much given up on eating at the restaurant just a few minutes ago, and now, on top of having someone to eat and split the bill with, he was getting a discount. He was immensely enjoying his time so far with Changbin, too, probably more than he’d like to admit.

“Same for me,” was all Changbin replied with, before grabbing one of the copies of the menu on their table. 

Hyunjin blinked at him, wondering what he meant by that. A dozen of explanations came up in his head, one of which was Changbin saying he was lucky because maybe he had been looking for someone to eat with for awhile now too-- which seemed unlikely. Changbin probably knew a lot of people in town, he could invite anyone to eat with him if he really wanted to. Or maybe Changbin was being sarcastic-- He was unlucky because he had to spend money on an expensive meal all of a sudden. That explanation made Hyunjin feel guilty again. Or maybe Changbin just meant he was lucky to get a discount. That made the most sense. Maybe even if Noe owed him a favor, he wasn’t guaranteed to get a discount from her, so he meant he was lucky he managed to get it.

A small part of him hoped, though, that Changbin saying he was lucky came from having met Hyunjin that day, but he was quick to dismiss it as just one of many reasons. He instead tried to distract himself and picked up one of the copies of the menu, just like Changbin did. The older one was already pointing to an item and translating the description to Hyunjin, and he needed to pay attention to that. 

\---

Being the younger one between the two of them, Hyunjin volunteered to grill the meat the moment their order arrived. Changbin told him that he really didn’t have to and they could  both do it, but Hyunjin insisted, feeling like it was the least he could do. As soon as he started with his first piece, though, he felt anxious. It wasn’t his first time grilling meat at a barbecue restaurant; he could say he was good at it even (Seungmin said he was, or maybe Seungmin was just _terrible_ at it) but it was his first time dealing with _very_ expensive meat, and he worried he could ruin it. It was fine if he ruined his own share of the pieces, or he wouldn’t feel _that_ bad if he did, but not Changbin’s. It would be a huge waste of money for Changbin if Hyunjin cooked the meat badly.

Changbin must have noticed how slowly Hyunjin moved his hand to pick up one of the pieces of meat with the pair of tongs provided to them. “It’s dead; it’s not gonna jump at you, you know,” he quipped from across the table.

Hyunjin couldn’t help but laugh at Changbin’s remark, realizing how silly he must have looked. His joke somehow diffused some of the tension and anxiety he felt about grilling the meat.

“Sorry, I’m just worried I’ll ruin it,” he explained, and resumed moving to pick up a piece of meat. Slowly, still. “It’s so expensive, after all.”

“Give it to me, I’ll do it,” he told Hyunjin, with a trace of laughter in his voice.

“But-” Hyunjin pulled the pair of tongs towards him, making sure Changbin can’t reach it, even if Changbin still had both of his hands at his sides.

“You can cook the meat for me in Korea,” Changbin cut Hyunjin off in a nonchalant tone.

Hyunjin could only blink at Changbin for a good second or so. The way Changbin talked about them meeting again soon, in Korea, seemed so definite, as if there was no doubt that was going to happen. In reality, though, the chances seemed slim. He was just a guest in the hostel Changbin worked at. They had only known each other for under an hour; it probably hadn’t been twenty minutes since Hyunjin learned his name. And they were only sharing a meal because, perhaps, Hyunjin lucked out and he bumped into Changbin on a day he was in the mood to have a meal in that restaurant.

Not that Hyunjin minded, though. He realized that he liked the idea very much, probably a lot more than he thought he should, along with the thought that Changbin had it in mind, too. He slowly handed the older one the pair of tongs, grinning. 

“Okay, that’s a deal.” Hyunjin tried to sound cheeky, but a sigh of relief escaped his lips as well, which he did hope was the reason Changbin chuckled as he took the tongs away. He carefully picked up a piece of meat from the plate Noe laid for them earlier and placed it on top of the grill. A second piece followed right away.

“Aren’t you nervous you’ll ruin it?” Hyunjin asked, unable to help but look at Changbin in awe at how assured he seemed.

Changbin laughed. “I’ve done this before, so it’s fine. It’d be hard to ruin meat like this, honestly.”

“Then I should--”

Changbin raised a hand in front of him. “It’s fine, I said.” Hyunjin would have worried that Changbin was getting exasperated, but the older male had a small grin on his face and a chuckle in his tone. 

“Thank you,” was all Hyunjin replied, unsure of what else to say. Now that he wasn’t cooking, he felt like it was up to him to liven up the atmosphere and entertain Changbin while he did the important work. There was a lot he could ask, even though they had already talked a bit, he was still very curious about the older male sitting in front of him. It took him awhile to figure out where to begin, long enough that Changbin was already laying a cooked piece of meat across the table on his plate.

“So... how often do you visit home while you’re studying here?” Hyunjin had decided to start with that, thinking it vaguely picks up off where they ended a while ago about meeting in Korea. 

Changbin tilted his head, with his gaze fixed on the piece of meat he had just placed. “It depends when cheap plane tickets coincide with public holidays here. Therefore, hardly,” he replied, laughing, then placed another piece of cooked meat on Hyunjin’s plate. “My family visit me here, though, too, so it’s fine.”

Hyunjin couldn’t help but wonder if Changbin talked about meeting in Korea knowing the chances were slim anyway. And then he wondered why he was thinking about that, when it shouldn’t really matter. Maybe Changbin only said that so Hyunjin would agree to let Changbin do the cooking, because Hyunjin was taking forever to get started and Changbin, of course, didn’t have all day.

“You should eat that while it’s hot,” Changbin spoke, breaking Hyunjin’s train of thought.

“What about you, hyung?” Hyunjin took the chopsticks set on his side of the table and picked up one of the pieces of meat, while he kept his gaze trained on Changbin.

Changbin flipped the piece of meat remaining on the grill. “I will, after this. You go get started.” He then looked up from the grill and wagged his eyebrows at Hyunjin. 

The gesture made Hyunjin’s cheeks feel warm. He wasn’t sure if it was because of the smoke from the grill, or from just how _cool_ and assured Changbin just seemed to be. He hastily shoved the piece of meat into his mouth to get out of his thoughts. It was a good idea, because the meat was nothing like anything he’d tasted before. He thought the people who left reviews saying the meat would melt like butter in one’s mouth were exaggerating, but he learned they were giving an exact description of what it was like.

“Oh my god, it’s so good.” Hyunjin held a hand over his mouth, as if doing so would help commit the taste and texture of the beef into memory.

“Right?” Hyunjin realized Changbin was already holding chopsticks instead of  the tongs, and was about to put a piece into his mouth. “Worth every _fucking_ yen.”

\---

After they finished eating, Changbin suddenly let out an exaggerated sob. “Wagyu-yah, how can you leave me so soon? We just got started!”

“Wagyu-yah…” Hyunjin repeated after him, laughing uncontrollably as he clutched at his full stomach. Though Changbin was joking, the way he was acting out was accurate. The experience was like a brief, intense love affair. 

His stomach hurt, not because he felt incredibly full, but because he had laughed throughout the entire meal. Changbin just couldn’t seem to stop with puns, and funny anecdotes from his work at the hostel. Occasionally, Changbin dropped a self-deprecating jab or two about how his face could cut through the meat, or how he resembled pizza. Hyunjin laughed at that, too, but he also couldn’t help but admire how Changbin could so easily make jokes about himself. To him, that came across as self-confidence, one trait Hyunjin wished he had more of.

From the corner of his eye, Hyunjin saw Changbin’s staged anguished expression turn into a satisfied-looking grin. He wasn’t sure how that grin came to be, but before he could even think about it, Changbin straightened up in his seat.

“So what are you doing for the rest of the day?” he asked Hyunjin.

Hyunjin quickly whipped out his phone to check the itinerary. He had studied it before he left, then again, the night before, and looked at it once more on the train ride from Nagoya. He knew more or less how it was supposed to go but he needed to make sure. It was a ten-day itinerary he had tried to memorize after all; he could easily mix things up.

“Visiting the old town,” he answered after an entire two seconds of scrolling on his phone. 

“You know how to get there already?” 

Hyunjin took a moment to read again the instructions Seungmin had left him. “I just walk, right? I can follow the map on my phone.”

Changbin briefly pursed his lips, seemingly thinking about something. Hyunjin wondered if there was something wrong with what he said. Perhaps, Seungmin underestimated the distance in his research and wrongly assumed that it was close enough to walk.

“Yeah, you just walk, it’s not that far from here,” Changbin finally answered after what seemed to Hyunjin to be quite a long pause, then took a deep breath. “I can take you there if you want.”

Hyunjin raised both eyebrows in surprise at the offer. It sounded too good to be true, but then that was what he thought about Changbin’s first offer to eat with him as well. He definitely would love some help on finding the place. Although Seungmin had practically mapped out the directions for him, Hyunjin wasn’t confident he could find the place without losing time by making a wrong turn or two. 

Still, it seemed too much, too imposing to ask Changbin for even more help.  He wasn’t sure why Changbin would be making the offer, either. The best guess Hyunjin could come up with was that it was a service offered by the hostel, and likely a service he couldn’t afford, and would have to refuse.

“Ah, it’s fine, I can manage,” he replied as politely as he could. “I can’t pay, so-” He finished his sentence with an awkward-sounding chuckle.

Changbin tilted his head and narrowed his eyes at Hyunjin, which immediately made the latter want to take back what he said. “Pay?”

“Sorry,” Hyunjin apologized immediately, wondering if he might have offended Changbin with what he said. That was the last thing he wanted, after Changbin just helped him be able to have the wonderful meal at that restaurant.  “I, I thought it was a tour guide service… from the hostel…”

“Wait, what?” Changbin’s eyes briefly widened, before he started to laugh. “No, no, the hostel offers no such service -- but would you mind if I ran that idea by the management? They might like it.”

“What…?” Hyunjin felt his cheeks warm up in embarrassment.

Changbin shook his head, his laughter fading as he did so. “I’m sorry for laughing, but no, it’s not for money or work that I’m offering to take you to the Old Town.” Hyunjin saw Changbin’s lips form a sheepish grin. “I just want to, that’s all. I mean, I just got off work, and I don’t really have anything to do for the rest of the day. And besides, when you get there, you’d wish someone would take your picture.”

The embarrassment Hyunjin felt turned into relief.. He was glad he didn’t offend Changbin, and he was also glad he didn’t have to pay if he took Changbin up on his offer. Again, he was laughing, this time at Changbin’s remark about wanting to have his picture taken. It was an obvious setback of traveling alone, and he thought it was funny that it failed to occur to him previously, and it was funny, too, how Changbin just suddenly brought it up. 

He didn’t understand what the older male was getting out of taking him to the Old Town, though. Perhaps, Changbin just wanted to kill time. It was a small city high up in the mountains; Hyunjin imagined one could run out of things to do. 

He realized he wouldn’t mind spending a bit more time with Changbin, too. Being with the older male was fun. Truthfully, it had been a while since he’d hung out with someone who could make him laugh as easily as Changbin did, and all that in just one shared meal. He could only imagine how much more fun it would be if they spent the entire afternoon together-

Hyunjin mentally flicked his forehead, and told himself not to let his train of thought go that far. Changbin would help him find the Old Town, and that was it. After that, Hyunjin would explore the area by himself, have dinner, and get ready for the next day.

“Well, if you’re sure I’m not imposing or ruining any sort of plans you have for today, then yes, please, then!” Hyunjin answered with his face finally breaking into a grin. The warm feeling in his cheeks remained. He was sure it wasn’t because of embarrassment anymore, but he had no idea what other reason could there be, or at least, that was what he would like to think.

A wide grin appeared on Changbin’s face at Hyunjin’s answer. He stood up and motioned for Hyunjin to do the same. “Cool. Just let me park my bike at the hostel, then off we go.”

\--

The sun began to set behind the green peaks that were littered across Takayama’s horizon, giving the rows of old houses in its historic district a golden glow. The crowds of tourists that had filled the streets earlier had started to thin, making it easier for Hyunjin to imagine that he had been taken back in time, to when Takayama was a thriving city of merchants, its economy fueled by timber from the surrounding mountains. The air had also begun to cool down, sending a slight shiver down Hyunjin’s spine. He let out a sigh as he tried to take in as much as he can of the sight of it all, resigned to the fact that photos he could take using his smartphone were not going to do the place any justice.

“Want me to take your picture here?” Changbin asked, standing right beside him.

Hyunjin wasn’t sure how it happened. After having lunch together, he pretty much assumed Changbin would just take him to Takayama’s Old Town, and then leave him to explore on his own. However, once they got there, Hyunjin asked him which way he should go first. The Old Town consists of a series of streets lined with preserved structures. Some buildings have been refurbished into museums and art galleries, a few were still functioning sake breweries, and others were ancestral homes open to the public for viewing. A lot of the buildings have also been turned into cafes, eateries serving various delicacies from the surrounding region, and souvenir shops along the way. Hyunjin only had one afternoon to spend there, and he wanted Changbin’s opinion on how he could best go about it.

Instead of giving him a direct answer and leaving him, Changbin instead led him to the Takayama Jinya, just a few steps from where Changbin had announced they had reached the Old Town. It was a well-preserved building complex that had served as the city government office for several hundred years until just a few decades ago. Changbin then mentioned that he had never actually entered the place before, and decided right there to tag along inside. (“The entrance fee’s not that bad, anyway,” he had said with a shrug.) Hyunjin was surprised that Changbin had never gone inside when he would probably need  to talk to inquiring guests at the hostel about this place, but Hyunjin wasn’t complaining.

After an hour of exploring and taking pictures inside, Hyunjin asked Changbin if he could take Hyunjin’s picture in front of the building. Changbin seemed to gladly oblige, then told Hyunjin there was another spot just a few meters away that was great for pictures and with not a lot of tourists. There was no way Hyunjin could say no to that, and he thought one more photo wouldn’t take too much of Changbin’s time off before he would leave.

The next thing Hyunjin knew, they had spent the entire afternoon together strolling along the entirety of Takayama’s historical district. They went into a couple of art galleries which neither of them actually appreciated for the art, shared an order of raw beef sushi, window-shopped for souvenirs (Changbin did help Hyunjin buy Seungmin a keychain with a plastic replica of a fried egg) and made up stories about the people that passed them by. Particular to Hyunjin’s interests were the ancestral homes. He majored in interior design, and he saw how some of the concepts he had learned in the past semesters came into play with how some of the houses looked inside. Slowly, Hyunjin forgot that Changbin was supposed to leave him, and just enjoyed his company all throughout. Changbin also threw in a lot of jokes in between, which added immensely to Hyunjin’s enjoyment of the afternoon, and made time seem to pass more quickly. 

Changbin didn’t really know much about the Old Town, it turned out. He only knew how to get there and where to eat, since those were the questions guests would often ask at the hostel’s front desk. Hyunjin also learned this was only Changbin’s second summer working at the hostel, and he also worked as a math tutor for high school students during the rest of his free time.

“Can you tutor me, too?” Hyunjin had quipped when Changbin told him that, still laughing from a joke Changbin had made about his students towering over him. “My geometry classes are killing me.”

“Sure thing, I’m a pretty tough teacher, though,” Changbin said coolly. “What do you study?”

Hyunjin blinked, seemingly unable to imagine Changbin being tough when the older male had been nothing but nice. Indeed, he had looked intimidating to Hyunjin at first but that impression didn’t last for more than a second.

“Interior design,” Hyunjin answered, suddenly feeling self-conscious. He suddenly felt his degree wasn’t much compared to what Changbin was studying. It was a degree he had wanted since he was in high school, though, ever since he worked on the set for a school play and realized he had a knack for moving stuff around within a limited space to make it look nice. On the summer after that, he rearranged his room, which he thought wasn’t much of an achievement, until Seungmin saw his room’s new look and asked him to rearrange his room as well. 

“Oh?” Changbin, though, raised both eyebrows in surprise, seeming impressed. “So that was why you kept taking pictures inside the heritage houses? That’s pretty cool.”

In his head, Hyunjin dismissed Changbin’s remark as mere lip service. He had no idea why someone studying something as tough as math would think highly of a design degree. “Nah, not really,” he answered, forcing a laugh. 

“Yes, it is!” Changbin, to Hyunjin’s surprise, insisted, with apparent conviction. “For one thing, you probably have a better appreciation of these houses here than most people.”

Hyunjin chuckled, unsure if Changbin meant that as a joke or not. “I guess?” He took a bite out of the skewered rice flour dumplings they had bought from a stall from the previous block.

“And isn’t being an interior designer tough? You have to make a place look nice with limited resources, don’t you?” Changbin walked on and took a bite out of his own food as well, chewing quickly before continuing. “I tried making my dorm room look nice last semester, but it’s too tiny even for _me_ , plus everything that can be bought to make it look decent is expensive so I gave up in the end-”

Hyunjin only looked at Changbin, confused about the point he was trying to get at. 

Changbin seemed to notice this. “What I mean is, I just imagine trying to make a tiny dorm room look decent is tough for me. But for you it’s probably gonna be child’s play compared to the stuff you have to do as someone who studies interior design.”

Hyunjin hadn’t really thought that way about his chosen field of study before. University life was tough, but he thought interior design wasn’t that difficult -- that was also why he was confident enough to pursue it in university. What Changbin told him just then, though, made him realize that it was easy for _him_ , but not for everyone else, maybe the same way math was easy for Changbin but not for Hyunjin.

“Ah, you think so…? Maybe…” He found himself at a loss for words, overwhelmed by a feeling of pride he never thought he deserved previously. A warm feeling crept up his cheeks as well, with something fuzzy forming in his gut from the thought that Changbin regarded him that way. He then realized he was mumbling, and perhaps looking like he wasn’t taking Changbin seriously. “I mean, thanks! As in, really, thank you! I’ve never really looked at it like that before, actually, and it feels entirely different now.”

Changbin raised an eyebrow at him then let out a soft chuckle. “If it was easy, then no one would be hiring interior designers, right?”

“Right,” Hyunjin laughed, with a newfound spring in his step as he continued to stroll along with Changbin.

\---

“And I think we’re done,” Changbin declared with a sigh, taking a seat on one of the benches that were littered along the street at the edge of the historic district.

“That was amazing,” Hyunjin said as he placed himself beside Changbin on the bench. “I had a great time, thank you.”

“My pleasure,” Changbin answered, tilting his head as if he was tipping an imaginary hat. 

Hyunjin didn’t feel like he could thank Changbin enough for the afternoon. Not only had the older male helped him make the most out of his afternoon in Takayama, he had provided excellent company as well. Also, he found himself hoping for Changbin not to leave him yet. It wasn’t because he thought he wouldn’t be able to go back to the hostel in his own. He realized he couldn’t get enough of the older male’s company. Not for now, at least, he told himself.

“Would you let me buy you dinner?” Hyunjin slowly asked, worrying how that could come off as condescending to Changbin.

Changbin turned to him, looking surprised yet again. “What? No way,” he chuckled and waved a hand in front of him. “Why would you think of that?”

“I just… don’t feel saying _thank you_ is enough to show how thankful I am for this afternoon?” Hyunjin answered, setting his gaze on the souvenir shop closing across the street.

“I had fun as well-” Changbin paused to let out a grunt as he stretched his legs in front of him. “- So there’s no need to thank me even. I should be thanking you. Thank you for not murdering me.”

“You’re welcome, I guess,” Hyunjin laughed heartily once more, remembering only then the remark Changbin had made earlier at the restaurant. Still, he didn’t think he provided much of an enjoyable company. All he really did was laugh at Changbin’s jokes, and point to food being sold in various stalls that he’d like to try. Changbin wasn’t laughing along, though, like he usually did. 

“I had fun with _you_ , I mean it,” Changbin spoke instead, in a firm tone Hyunjin didn’t think he’d heard before. That made Hyunjin turn his gaze towards the older male, whom he found out was looking straight at him as well. Hyunjin felt his cheeks warm up yet again, and was thankful that it had gotten dark.

“I’m happy to hear that,” was all Hyunjin could say, before turning his eyes back towards the store across the street. He went quiet for a while, unsure of what else to say, and at the same time, trying to get the butterflies in his stomach to calm down.

It was Changbin who broke the silence. “So--”

“Dinner?” Hyunjin surprised himself with how he had interrupted Changbin, but the tone the other used made it seem like he was about to leave and Hyunjin didn’t want that yet. 

Changbin laughed this time. “You read my mind. But don’t insist on paying for mine.” Hyunjin opened his mouth to protest, but Changbin continued to speak. “I’ll pick a cheap ass place, though, if you don’t mind.”

Hyunjin shook his head, laughing yet again. “Fine.”

\---

The place Changbin brought them to was a small ramen eatery back at the hostel’s side of the city. It was run by an old couple, with the husband cooking the noodles and the wife serving and taking orders. The wife’s face lit up as soon as she saw Changbin, said something in Japanese in a cheerful tone, and motioned for them to sit by the counter. Changbin replied with a short remark, but it sent the couple laughing in no time. Hyunjin couldn’t help but wonder how many people Changbin knew in the city. 

It wasn’t long until they were served with a bowl of steaming ramen each, with a raw egg floating within the broth. 

“Wow, this is so good,” Hyunjin said as soon as he got a sip of the warm broth. Hyunjin appreciated how light the broth was, since he wasn’t that hungry after he and Changbin ate so much food that afternoon. He also appreciated that the prices were cheap, even for his standards. He had gone above his budget for the day already because of all the food stalls he couldn’t resist. “And are those really the prices?” he asked, briefly glancing at the short menu of the restaurant posted on the wall.

“Yep. It’s outside the busier streets here, so I guess that’s why,” Changbin said before taking a sip out of his own bowl.

“You must eat here often for them to know you,” Hyunjin pointed out with a trace of awe in his tone.

Changbin laughed. “Well, yeah, I like the ramen a lot. My co-workers think there are better ones, but I guess they’re happy living with inferior taste.”

Hyunjin laughed along as well. “You probably recommend this place to guests at the hostel a lot, then.”

To Hyunjin’s surprise, Changbin vehemently shook his head. “No way! I’m worried they’ll jack the prices up if they get more popular, so I never do. This is my little secret.” He gave Hyunjin a small grin, then turned his gaze back to his bowl of ramen to slurp up a bit of the noodles.

Hyunjin turned his gaze back to his own bowl as well, hoping Changbin wouldn’t catch the blush creeping up his cheeks for the nth time that day. Surely, Changbin taking him, supposedly just a guest in the hostel, to a place he called his little secret meant something. Maybe he was more than just another guest to Changbin. Hyunjin told himself that still, that wasn’t much, but it was strangely enough to feel something fluttering wildly in his chest.

Hyunjin tried to come up with something to say, maybe tell Changbin that he appreciated being brought here, but Changbin was already talking again.

“It’s getting more popular on the Internet, though, they told me the last time I was here,” he said with a resigned sigh. “I might as well give up on keeping this place unknown and tell the other guests. Might help the old couple, too.”

Hyunjin wasn’t sure if that was a tone of disappointment he heard in Changbin’s voice. He worried it was his lack of a response, but he also realized, maybe it was because of the restaurant indeed getting more popular.

“Maybe,” Hyunjin chuckled softly. “Then if they jack up the prices, you have a discount anyway because of how you’ve helped them.”

Changbin raised his eyebrows at Hyunjin in amusement. “Oh, good point. I’ll bring it up with them,” he replied, laughing. 

\--

It was a little past eight in the evening when they stepped out of the eatery and started to walk back to the hostel. Hyunjin gave his stomach a pat and let out a long, satisfied sigh. “So good,” he hummed with a large, contented grin on his face. It wasn’t only about the food, but with how about the entire day had gone so far, as well. 

Changbin, beside him, stretched his arms. “So, what are you doing tomorrow?”

“Shirakawa-go until the early afternoon, then I’ll catch the late afternoon train back to Nagoya,” he answered slowly, realizing how his heart was sinking at the realization that he was leaving soon. _Too soon_. If it were all up to Hyunjin, maybe he would spend another night in Takayama. He didn’t have much of a choice, though. Seungmin was arriving tomorrow evening, and they had already booked and paid for lodging there. 

Shirakawa-go was a village an hour’s bus ride away from Takayama. It was one of the most famous sights in Central Japan, featuring a large cluster of farm houses with large, triangular thatched roofs unique to the area within a large valley. The roofs were meant to withstand the heavy snowfall during the winter, and withstood they did, for some of the  farmhouses had stood, unchanged, for hundreds of years. Hyunjin thought it was amazing and interesting when Seungmin had first told him about it. From the pictures, the area looked quaint and peaceful, and though he imagined it would be a bit less so with all the tourists, Hyunjin was excited to see the place.

“You can have pretty good views of the sunset if you pick seats on the right side of the train,” was all Changbin told him once Hyunjin had announced his plans for the next day. Hyunjin felt disappointment creep into his gut. He had hoped Changbin would say he’d take him again, but perhaps, that was already too much. He had already started to think that it wasn’t only because Changbin had nothing better to do that he chose to take Hyunjin around that afternoon. He mentally scolded himself again that it was probably really nothing more than that, and the afternoon wouldn’t have happened if Changbin had more important things to do.

“Ah, thanks, I’ll keep that in mind,” Hyunjin replied, putting on a small grin. He then paused, wondering how he can at least try to ask Changbin to come with him. He hesitated to ask straight out, because it would be like asking the older male for yet another favor. 

“Will you be working at the hostel tomorrow?” was what he finally settled with. It seemed safe and unassuming enough.

Changbin nodded, which told Hyunjin it was a good idea he didn’t ask straight out, and also gave him a bit of hope. Perhaps, at least, he’d catch Changbin again when he checked out. 

“In the evening. I have to sort stuff out in school tomorrow morning,” was what Changbin continued with, though.

“Oh.” Hyunjin’s voice came out sounding more disappointed than he wanted it to. By the time Changbin would be back in the hostel, Hyunjin would be in Nagoya.

“Have fun at Shirakawa-go, though. You best take the first bus, it’s a Sunday tomorrow so it will probably get crowded if you come a little later,” Changbin spoke, looking straight ahead. “It’s leaves the bus station at 7:50, so you should probably be there around 7:15, maybe?”

“Damn, that’s early,” Hyunjin groaned. He wasn’t exactly a morning person and getting up was always a struggle. 

“You also better let the front desk tonight know you’re checking out that early,” Changbin continued to instruct him on what to do, which he appreciated. He wouldn’t have thought of these things on his own.

“I suppose I should. Thanks for letting me know,” Hyunjin replied with a weak smile. It was then that Changbin stopped walking, and Hyunjin realized they were in front of the hostel already. He had to blink twice at the building then at Changbin in surprise.

“So, I have to go now, my bike’s at the back.” It was hard to discern the look on Changbin’s face with only the streetlights.

Hyunjin thought of maybe inviting the older male to the convenience store to get food he could bring to his trip to Shirakawa-go tomorrow. The renowned village was an hour away from Takayama by bus, and if he was leaving early, Hyunjin could buy food for breakfast that evening and eat it along the way. But then, he also thought that maybe Changbin needed to leave already as well. The older male would have offered already if he had time, just like how he had been the one to initiate things throughout earlier in the day.

It the occurred to Hyunjin that maybe that was all what this afternoon had been about for Changbin: to kill time on a boring Saturday afternoon. Hyunjin’s heart sank at the thought. All the things Changbin had done and said that afternoon that made Hyunjin feel remotely special and more than just another guest at the hostel were just side effects of Changbin’s boredom. He felt silly that he had thought for even a single second that there was something else. Besides, they had only spent a few hours together. His imagination must have been over-exerting to think there was anything out of the ordinary to come out of that.

Despite the disappointment, though, Hyunjin had a lot of room to be grateful anyway. He had fun that afternoon. That was already more than enough luck to be had. He told himself to focus on being thankful towards Changbin for the help and nothing more.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you for today.” Hyunjin pressed his palms together and gave Changbin a wide grin, something that came easily to him after he managed to turn his thoughts around. “I don’t think I can thank you enough.”

“Like I said earlier, it’s my pleasure,” Changbin replied, grinning as well. “Thank you, too.”

Hyunjin paused, unsure of what else to say. He found himself badly wanting for Changbin to stay around a little longer, but he wasn’t sure how to ask him to do that without sounding too demanding. The older one had done so much already for him, after all. The more practical and sensible part of him also told him that he needed to rest and get ready for the early start tomorrow. Changbin needed to do the same, as well.  The day was done. 

“I’ll-”

“I’ll see you when I see you, I guess,” Changbin interrupted him, with a small smile and a wave of the hand. “Have lots of fun tomorrow. I’m sure you will.”

“Yeah! I will,” was all Hyunjin could say as he watched Changbin turn around, with the thought that he likely won’t see the older male again sinking in.

\--

  
  


It took all of Hyunjin to get up at six in the morning the following day. Aside from needing his alarm clock to go off three times, Seungmin had to call him to make sure he was up. His best friend also reminded him to be back in Nagoya by the evening when he would arrive, so Hyunjin better get up and make the most out of the remaining time in Takayama.

Hyunjin hastily showered and stuffed his belongings back into his backpack. Since he needed to leave before the front desk would open, Hyunjin was given a pair of numbered tags the night before, and was instructed to leave one tied to his bag inside his room. Someone from the staff would take it to the front desk for safekeeping until he returned from Shirakawa-go later in the afternoon. 

Before exiting, he deposited his keys into a small wooden box at the front desk. A small part of him hoped that Changbin would be there, but it was empty. With a rather harsh mental reminder to himself that he was hoping for too much given the circumstances, he stepped out and went his way.

He slept through most of the bus ride, and thankfully, a Korean version of the announcement being made that they had arrived blasted loudly enough through the speakers to wake him up. He woke up to other tourists standing up and getting ready to leave. He initially panicked and wondered what was going on, until his eye caught outside the window signage indicating he was indeed at Shirakawa-go.

The first thing he did upon getting off, was to get a map, and talk to the person at the tourist assistance booth on how to go about the day. He almost spoke to the middle-aged lady in the booth in Korean, then remembered again that he was in Japan and not knowing a single word of Japanese, he’d have to communicate in English. He’d only lucked out with meeting Changbin the day before.

According to the lady, they were only at the entrance, and the cluster of houses the place was famous for was still several minutes’ walk away. There was also a vantage point he could take a bus to for a small fee, from which he could take a path to the village itself afterwards.

The view at the entrance was nice enough already, though, that Hyunjin wanted to take a picture straight away. He raised his phone and tried to take a selfie, but it was a struggle to fit himself _and_ the majestic view behind him into the frame on his phone screen. With a sigh, he wondered how he managed to take photos the day before, then remembered Changbin had been with him, telling him where to position himself to get the best kind of photo. Hyunjin would need to figure that out by himself for that day.

He then took the bus to the vantage point, and realized he was the only one in there traveling alone. Most people spoke excitedly in Japanese, and he couldn’t help but wish he had some company as well. The feeling of hoping he had someone to talk to clung onto him as he got off the bus and took pictures at the vantage point. The sight that greeted him was nothing like he’d seen before. From there he could see the entire village nestled between the mountains, with the early morning sunlight casting a faint, white glow upon the thatched roofs. A good number of tourists could be seen roaming between the houses, but the view nonetheless looked as peaceful as it did in the pictures.

Hyunjin snapped a photo and sent it to Seungmin, wanting nothing more than to have someone to share the moment with. Unfortunately, Seungmin’s status on KakaoTalk informed Hyunjin that he wasn’t online. He remembered Seungmin’s interview was scheduled for that morning, then he would be busy getting ready to leave after that. With yet another resigned sigh, he sent a message wishing Seungmin good luck and navigated back to his camera app. 

He then headed off to the village after that, and roamed the streets, taking in as much of the view as he could and snapping photos of almost every corner and house that caught his fancy. He took his lunch from a stall that sold skewered meat and ate as he walked on. Around him, he saw groups of people exploring the village together. A pair he passed by were looking at the screen of their cameras, laughing, presumably, at pictures they had just taken. Hyunjin couldn’t help but smile fondly at the sight of that, remembering that that pair was him and Changbin just the day before. 

While taking a picture of one of the houses, Hyunjin imagined Changbin making a joke about how the triangular roof looks like him, only upside-down. Hyunjin almost laughed out loud, not because he thought the roof indeed looked like Changbin, but because the older male would have delivered the joke in such a smooth and self-assured manner that Hyunjin wouldn’t worry that Changbin was completely fine with making fun of his own looks, and would be fine to laugh at. Sadly, it was only to remember that he was alone and he would look like an idiot laughing by himself.

Hyunjin could only admit to himself how badly he missed Changbin. He thought it was strange; he had only known Changbin for less than twenty-four hours, but he already found it difficult to do without the older male’s company. Hyunjin reminded himself that the feeling probably wasn’t mutual, and that he was likely never going to see Changbin again. It was more than about time to move on from yesterday afternoon and look forward to meeting Seungmin later that evening instead.

\--

On the bus ride back to Takayama, Seungmin finally replied to Hyunjin’s message, leading Hyunjin to spend the entire hour inside the bus talking to his friend about how the interview had gone, and about what had happened in Takayama so far. He tried not to mention Changbin as much as possible, and only told Seungmin how the hostel had a Korean staffer that helped him out a lot. He was making a conscious effort to not think much about Changbin anymore, since he didn’t think there was anything to come of it. And besides, Seungmin’s interview seemed to have gone well, and his best friend sounded thrilled. Hyunjin was, more than anything,  happy for him. 

By the time the bus rolled into Takayama’s main bus station, it was already a few minutes past three. Seungmin had logged off a few minutes prior to head to the airport, so Hyunjin had to get on the train to Nagoya as soon as possible as well. He hastily walked back to the hostel, stopping only for a few minutes to buy a couple of boxes of treats for his parents. In his head, he repeated Seungmin’s instructions on how to get himself a ticket back to Nagoya, and reminded himself to get seats on the right side of the train. The latter reminder was from Changbin, and he felt his heart sinking again.

As soon as the bell on the door of the hostel sounded off to announce his arrival, an instantly recognizable voice greeted him.

“ _Hello, welcome to J’s House Takaya--_ Oh, there you are!” The greeting, cut off by a sudden interjection in Korean, was followed by a laugh.

“Changbin-hyung?” Hyunjin blinked in surprise to see the male behind the desk. “I thought you were--”

“I pulled a few stops to finish the school stuff early and switch shifts with someone else,” Changbin said, grinning widely as he looked up at Hyunjin. “So I can be here to see you off.”

_Pulled a few stops_. Changbin's words echoed inside Hyunjin's head. It probably wasn’t just _pulling a few stops._ He remembered Changbin mentioned that he studied in Nagoya, and Nagoya was two hours away by train. He would have needed four hours to go back and forth, and then a few hours to settle his business in school. Hyunjin imagined that it took effort, probably a whole lot of it, for Changbin to be there at the front desk and get a chance to  see Hyunjin off just in time. He wasn't there out of mere coincidence or to kill time. Hyunjin repeated these several times in his head, tried to come up with things that would tell him otherwise, but he came up short.

Maybe Hyunjin was right to hope that there was more to yesterday afternoon that it seemed. 

“What…?” was all he managed to say after a good while of just blinking at Changbin in surprise.

Changbin chuckled. “Yeah, I wanted to see you off. Haven’t had that much fun with anyone for a while so I thought I owe you at least a better send off than last night.” He paused, then put on a grin. “How was Shirakawa-go? The houses look like me, don’t they?”

Hyunjin laughed out loud, remembering he’d thought of the exact same thing earlier.  “Hyung, _please_ ,” he whined softly, playfully rolling his eyes, despite feeling that he couldn’t be any happier at the moment. He had already given up on ever hearing that joke come right out of Changbin’s mouth, after all.

“Is that a yes?” Changbin wiggled his eyebrows at Hyunjin.

“I did think of you when I saw them, but not because you looked like them. I just… I thought about you a lot,” Hyunjin found himself blurting out. He realized right away what he just said, though, and felt his cheeks heat up in an instant. There was nothing wrong with what he said; it was the truth. All throughout his visit to Shirakawa-go, he thought of Changbin and missed him. Hyunjin just hadn’t planned on being so direct about it; he wished he had been able to think about it more, maybe say it in a more subtle or witty way, the same way Changbin had been making his heart flutter since yesterday.

But then, he realized, if he had given himself the chance to think about it more, he probably would never have been able to say anything at all.

As embarrassed as he was, Hyunjin willed himself to look directly at Changbin in anticipation for what he’d say, and in hopes of letting Changbin know that he meant what he said. Changbin, though, only looked at him with his eyebrows raised and his lips parted in a small grin, as if he was about to crack another one of his jokes, but had to stop halfway through.

Changbin’s pause came to be long enough that Hyunjin gave into the temptation of breaking the silence first. “Hyung…?”

Changbin then laughed. “Sorry. That was just really nice to hear,” he replied, biting down on his lower lip.

“Oh.” Hyunjin wasn’t sure what to say to that, probably because he could feel his heart fluttering in his chest all over again. All he could do was laugh along.

Changbin then took a deep breath. “So, you know how to get tickets back to Nagoya? I would come with you to the train station but I can’t really get out of here right now,” he said regretfully.

Hyunjin replied with a small nod and a grin. “Yep, and I should request for seats on the right side.”

Changbin gave him a small, satisfied grin. “Good. Your bag tag, by the way?”

Hyunjin fished for the numbered tag he’d been given the night before from his neck wallet and slowly handed it to Changbin, who disappeared into the the office behind the front desk. He appeared a few seconds later with Hyunjin’s bag, and lifted it up for Hyunjin to take. “Here you go.”

“Thanks!” Hyunjin put on his bag as soon as he received it from Changbin, then took a deep breath. 

This was the part where he should say goodbye and leave. He didn’t exactly feel sad about it. Perhaps, he was still too overcome by Changbin being there when he thought he wouldn’t be, and he also seemed to be on some sort of high after managing to tell Changbin a bit of how he felt.  

Still, he wondered if this indeed had to be goodbye.

“Hyung, by the way. I _need_ you to tell me when you’ll be back in Korea. So I can cook meat for you?” Hyunjin had meant for that to come out as a statement, but it became a question as he questioned his own choices of words as soon as they slipped out of his mouth. The word _need_ was a little too strong, but he realized he indeed felt strongly about the possibility of them meeting again sometime in the future. Although there was no telling when and how that was going to pan out, Hyunjin thought he wanted to keep the door open. If Changbin wasn’t keen on it, he supposed he would be disappointed, but he probably would beat himself up for the next few days if he failed to try at the very least.

Changbin looked at Hyunjin in surprise then laughed. “You _need_ me to tell you, huh?”

Hyunjin pressed his lips together briefly, feeling even more conscious about what he said. There was no taking it back now, no matter how much he would choose to mull over it. “Yes,” he answered with a firm tone. “I also felt bad you had to cook the meat.”

In response, Changbin shook his head. “You really didn’t need to feel bad.” He then paused. His eyes flicked downwards, with a wan smile forming on his lips. “I don’t know when I’ll be back- but it won’t hurt to keep in touch, I guess.” His face then lit up. “Right, you need to tell me about the deer.”

Hyunjin laughed, remembering the ridiculous story of money-eating deer in Nara, which Changbin had told him to confirm when he got there. He still thought it was too outrageous to be true, but he’d take any reason to be able to keep in touch with the older male.  “Yeah, I need to be able to tell you about that, hyung. And a lot of other things, too.”

\--

hhjiiiinaaa: hyung it turns out you’re right!!  
hhjiiiinaaa: one of the deer  
hhjiiiinaaa: bit off the bills hanging out of seungmin’s pocket…  
binniebunny811:  told you hah  
binniebunny811: didn’t u tell ur friend about what i said?  
hhjiiiinaaa: i did! but he told me it was nonsense  
hhjiiiinaaa: well that was ¥5,000 he just lost  
binniebunny811: yikes  
binniebunny811: i hope you’re friend’s ok tho  
hhjiiiinaaa: i’m more worried about the deer   
binniebunny811: …  
binniebunny811: your friend seems scary  
hhjiiiinaaa: he is  
hhjiiiinaaa: i’m just kidding  
hhjiiiinaaa: i think you guys will get along fine if you meet  
hhjiiiinaaa: i was just wondering isn’t it dangerous for deer to eat money though?  
binniebunny811: the deer will be fine  
binniebunny811: i do hope so  
binniebunny811: speaking of meeting  
binniebunny811: i’ll be in korea this august  
binniebunny811: from the 10th-12th  
binniebunny811: it’ll be mountain day here in japan  
hhjiiiinaaa: oh wow you’ll be in korea sooner than i thought you would be  
binniebunny811: yeah i got tickets kinda right after you left  
hhjiiiinaaa: aaaah that’s  
hhjiiiinaaa: really cool  
binniebunny811: you’ll be in korea by then right?   
hhjiiiinaaa: of course  
hhjiiiinaaa: i’ll make sure i’m free on those dates  
hhjiiiinaaa: can’t wait to see you again  
binniebunny811: can’t wait to see me again either  
hhjiiiinaaa: hyung please 😂😂😂😂  
binniebunny811: just kidding  
binniebunny811: can’t wait to see you again too hyunjin

  
  
  


_end._


End file.
